Man Injured in Polar Bear Plunge
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Hundreds of people bravely splashed into cold ocean waters to start the new year yesterday, but one man ended up in a hospital.
The man was not a member of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club but was merely one of the 200 or so people who joined the 80 members to take the annual plunge into the 48-degree Atlantic Ocean waters, club spokesman Louie Scarcella said.
The 32-year-old man, whose identity wasn’t released, was injured when he dived into shallow waters, police said. He was taken to Lutheran Medical Center, where a spokesman said he was in stable condition and was undergoing examinations.
The annual swim raised $25,000 for Camp Sunshine, a retreat providing relief to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.
The club had hoped to raise more than $50,000, although its take was well in excess of the $6,000 or so raised last year, Mr. Scarcella noted.
The Coney Island Polar Bear Club is the oldest winter bathing organization in America. Its members swim in the Atlantic at Coney Island every Sunday from October through April.
